Newcastle United suffered a 2-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday evening, ending their unbeaten streak of three Premier League matches.
The Mags gave a disappointingly flat performance at the London Stadium, and struggled to create many chances thanks to impressive defending from the West Ham back line.
And Unfortunately for Toon supporters, the same could not be said of their own defence, with both of The Hammer’s goals coming from errors at the back.
Fabian Schar was responsible for the first goal, failing to pick up Declan Rice from a corner and allowing him to nod in a free header.
Florian Lejeune then similarly lost his concentration just before half-time, tripping over Javier Hernandez in the box and conceding a penalty.
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Mark Noble coolly finished from the spot and from then on, Newcastle were fighting a losing battle.
It was surprisingly poor from the Toon backline who have been phenomenal for large periods this season.
But it was instead West Ham who boasted the superior defence on Saturday.
Although Rondon and co turned up the tempo in the second half, they still couldn’t get past The Iron’s defence.
Key blocks were made against both the striker and Schar, and on another day the Toon would surely have scored.
Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna looked unbeatable, and Newcastle fans have been quick to admit that the pair were simply too good.
Newcastle supporters impressed with West Ham defenders
https://twitter.com/ConkerNUFC/status/1101923568651325440
You can’t win every game
Although a painful result for Newcastle fans, the loss to West Ham is no real cause for panic.
Their last two wins have seen them climb to 14th in the table and they now have a six point gap from the bottom three.
After those results and the arrival of Miguel Almiron, it was only natural fans started to get carried away.
But Newcastle are still a team full of flaws and faults.
Even though things are looking up, they are still light-years away from the finished article.
While Newcastle have spent the season fighting relegation, teams like West Ham have been pushing for Europe.
The Toon must take confidence that it was their own errors that cost them the game on Saturday rather than the guile and creativity of their opposition.
There are now just nine games remaining in the league, and Newcastle sit just nine points away from the elusive 40.
With just one of the top six left to play, things are still looking up for Newcastle United.
